Citation

Zafren K, Atkins D, Brugger H. Wilderness Environ. Med. 2018; 29(2): 275-277.

Affiliation

International Commission for Mountain Emergency Medicine (ICAR MEDCOM), Zürich, Switzerland (Drs Zafren and Brugger); Institute of Mountain Emergency Medicine, EURAC Research, Bozen/Bolzano, Italy (Dr Brugger); Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria (Dr Brugger).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.wem.2018.02.004

PMID

29599095

Abstract

We present a historical case of a 12-year-old boy who survived a reported avalanche burial in 1939 in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The boy was completely buried for at least 3 hours, head down, at a depth of about 1 m. He was extricated without signs of life and likely hypothermic by his father, who took him to his home. There, the father performed assisted ventilation for 3 hours using the Schäfer method, a historical method of artificial ventilation, without any specific rewarming efforts. The boy recovered neurologically intact. This case illustrates the importance of attempting resuscitation, possibly prolonged, of victims of hypothermia, even those who are apparently dead.

Copyright © 2018 Wilderness Medical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

artificial ventilation; hypothermia